Sunday, 22 June 2014

ENTJ: The Commander

Of all the MBTI personality types, ENTJs are perhaps the most infamous, even prompting the Onion, America's Finest News Source, to post this satirical article.

So what, then, exactly is an ENTJ? Well, their name, the Commander, manages to illustrate most of their qualities. They possess exceptional charisma due to an air of self-certainty and self-confidence. Commanders have little problem with being the centre of attention and voice their opinions, which are often well-thought out and convincing. They can, however, be stubborn, unwilling to listen to the thoughts of those they consider unworthy, which could quite easily be most people. They are a firm thinking type and emotions do not fit well into their picture of things, with most ENTJs keeping their feelings under strict control and only very rarely allowing themselves to indulge in them. When they do manifest, the Commander's emotions are often poorly handled. Due to their preference for suppressing their feelings, the Commanders can often come across as cold, perhaps even ruthless individuals. ENTJs are strategic thinkers, able to plan ahead and approach problems from multiple perspectives in order to find the best way in which to deal with it. They enjoy putting themselves into action, doing, rather than just thinking about doing, making them particularly pragmatic. Commanders are extremely strong-willed, rarely abandoning their vision, even if they are faced with extensive opposition. Efficiency is a big thing for ENTJs, and they value little above this. This high level of devotion to their cause can make commanders arrogant and dominant individuals, who can be impatient and intolerant should others fail to meet their exceptionally high standards.

Abaddon

As a Knight of Hell, Abaddon is essentially a demonic aristocrat, a position of great esteem which has even her all the arrogance and sense of self-entitlement that one might expect of a member of the human nobility. Unlike a human aristocrat, however, Abaddon has done much to ascend through the ranks of Hell, proving her capability time and time again. As one might expect of a demon, she cares little for feelings and is willing to murder or betray any one of her followers in order to get what she wants. She is passionate about taking power for herself, intolerant of anyone who might stand in her way or slow her down and is intelligent enough to know how to go about taking that which she desires. Abaddon is the image of what an ENTJ can become if they do nothing to temper their more negative qualities.

Tywin

Much like Abaddon, Tywin is a quintessential Commander, both in personality type and quite literally a commander of the forces of House Lannister. He has the requisite arrogance and self-confidence of an ENTJ, though seems to be more patient than most, which makes sense considering that his goal is one which cannot be completed instantly: to establish House Lannister as a great dynasty. He appears to have great control over his emotions though is as strong-willed and stubborn, leading to his being overly dominant, as one is to expect. He cares little for those who do not directly contribute to his goal and he is willing to be openly hostile to those who might seek to confound his efforts. Tywin is ruthless, willing to condemn how ever many people it takes to death if the gain was high enough. He does, however, lead by example.

Saren

The main villain in the first game, I can remember hating Saren a lot, mainly because he was so obviously indoctrinated and yet do nothing to try and snap himself out of it. As I have matured, however, I have come to see him as a more fully fledged character, with at least something interesting to say about. Needless to say, he is arrogant, self-centred and dominant, devoted to efficiency and intolerant of anything that opposes him. He allows his followers to die as suits him, ruthless as he is, though each death contributes to his overall scheme. I would not necessarily call him stubborn, for it is unclear how much of his devotion to his cause is his own and how much is down to Reaper indoctrination. Regardless, Saren is quite the ENTJ.

Regina

We have seen Regina change and awful lot throughout the seasons and whilst it is clear that she has a big heart, albeit a slightly blackened one, she retains most of her ENTJ behaviour, namely her cold and ruthless attitude towards other people. She clearly cares for Henry very deeply, though she is unable to correctly control her emotions for him. Regina is at her best, by which I mean most deadly and efficient, where Henry is not concerned. As soon as he enters the picture, however, she makes poor decisions, evidence of her inability to properly control her emotions. With Regina, self-confidence is more in appearance than in actuality, for beneath her arrogant façade, she is actually very vulnerable, which makes her a very human example of an ENTJ, for even the most cold Commander has their weaknesses.

Hae-Joo

A difficult character to discuss, as in the book, he is actually two characters combined in order to save time. Interesting to note is that Hae-Joo is not a villain, as each of the previous characters are, or at least can be considered as such, though, if one is to look at the characters from the book, we might not want to go as far as calling him a hero. ENTJs typically sit on a blurred line when it comes to the typical story layout of heroes and villains, thus making them more real. Hae-Joo is an arrogant and dominant character, for he takes control of Sonmi's life and manipulates her into doing what he wants. He is, however, inspiring, a paragon of personal liberty and the rights of others, even if his methods are perhaps dubious. Finally, Hae-Joo is a strategist, able to think and plan ahead.

Shale
The first of our characters who is cast firmly on the side of the hero, though she certainly has a tendency towards some non-heroic kinds of behaviour (often disapproving when your Warden acts too selflessly), Shale demonstrates the requisite ruthlessness and arrogance of an ENTJ, as well as the emotional suppression often demonstrated by this type, keeping everything at a distance. She is feisty, demonstrating a stubbornness and fierce will, giving her the air of self-confidence. Shale, though an excellent character, is definitely sarcastic to the point of intolerance. She is rather witty, often able to come up with a humorous line, though for the most part her emotions are kept on lock-down, save for in the few moments in which she is able to reconnect with her past.

That concludes the ENTJ post. Only two more entries to go until we reach the end of the MBTI series!

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Currently a doctoral researcher in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia (UEA). The focus of my research is into notions of identity, bringing be to questions of personhood, selfhood and political embeddedness. The main thinkers featuring within my academic work are Hegel, Arendt, and Butler, among others.